I must begin this week's blog entry with a disclaimer. My writing today is brought to you in the midst of a bout of the dreaded Swine Flu (which I've been referring to as the Bacon Flu), and so may not be as clear or cogent as possible. However, we must soldier on...
This week, we traversed to Downtown Minneapolis to explore the two galleries housed in the Open Book Building/Complex: the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, and the Rosalux Gallery. Though I have known of Open Book through writers I have known who take advantage of their workshops and printing/publishing facilities, I had been unaware that it also houses two wonderful gallery spaces as well.
The current exhibition at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts is "NONE OF THE ABOVE: Assembling, Collaborating, and Publishing in the Eternal Network"
The pieces or publications are loosely based around a theme. A group of artists each submits work based on their take on that theme, which is gathered together without "editorial oversight", and assembled to become a greater piece of art. The result can be wonderfully eclectic.
This exhibition was laid out in an interesting way. Collaborative works were shown together, either in display cases or hung in clear plastic in a line.
I for one really appreciated this setup. It allowed for each collaborative piece to be seen as a separate and whole piece, and yet allowed for close inspection of each of the individual pieces of a work. It gave you a sense of the separate and group aspects of the art.
One of the greatest things I took away from this exhibition was the vast amount of different takes or viewpoints submitting artists had on a subject. Where one responded with a poem, another submitted folded paper art. It was inspiring to see all of the different and creative aspects separate people held in one subject. One of the groups I liked did contain a poem, two pieces of folded paper art, and a luggage tag with a print of the receipt for the trip on the top, among many other pieces.
An Allen Ginsberg submission drew me in, as his work so often does.
Mostly, the pieces in this exhibition were on the small scale, which is understandable, considering that most of these collaborations have to be mailed in. I rather liked the sense of it - nothing gigantic or overpowering, but artistry that had to fit into a small package and yet stand out and stand alone in its own right. I feel it made it easier (for me) to take in all the works on equal standing, and not have the brilliant-but-small overshadowed by the huge-and-attention-demanding.
The work took the form of a variety of mediums, most paper and ink based, some hand-drawn, some typed, I noticed a good amount that were the work of stamp or relief techniques, and others that had been produced by screenprinting. All printmaking processes are incredibly labor-intensive and show great dedication to artistic vision, if you ask me.
Some of my favorite collaborations were all wallet or palm sized, in a way...
Wipe, printed toilet paper bookwork, David Dellafiora, Australia
Bank of Fun, "designer currency", Vittore Baroni, Italy
Trade Off, artist trading cards, David Dellafiora,Australia
Also included: an art collaboration you can listen to!
And on the other side of the building...
The current exhibition at the Rosalux Gallery is "Praise and Punishment", featuring artwork by Toni Gallo and Joel Starkey. When I visited, the gallery was staffed by one of the artists.
In my sickly state, I had no cohesive thoughts to share with her.
The Rosalux Gallery is a bit more of a traditional gallery setting, with artwork hung on the walls and under spot lighting, though not entirely. A few of the pieces were more three-dimensional, spilling out from the wall and encroaching upon the space of reality.
This has a very dramatic effect, and brings to mind a feeling that the work is reacing out to you in some way.
However, the more traditional paintings hung on walls is also appreciated in that it gives you distance and separation to take in the work on your own terms.
Toni Gallo's work was of a more traditional medium, though felt very modern in the characters and emotions they embodied. The title of the exhibition came from the name of one of her pieces, "Praise and Punishment".
Joel Starkey's medium was mostly comprised of black-and-white drawings and cassette tape, sometimes combined.
One of his pieces that I found compelling was a simple drawing titled "Ol' Dead-Eyes"
I connect with what I see in this drawing - a person in a completely, wretchedly exhausted emotional state, who has been put through the ringer so much so that there is not much left but to look on the world with dead eyes. My recent personal life can commiserate.
The other work that struck me was also by Starkey, titled "The cabin in the woods..." and is a three-dimensional piece made entirely of cassette tape and commanding an entire back room of the gallery space.
I don't know how it is that I can say that cassette tape is an emotional medium, but it really is. It ebbs and flows, it runs straight and pools in curls, it is orderly or a mess of tangles, and I think this piece showcases its versatility. It also brings to mind the impressions one would get from being present at the site of a cabin in the woods: the organic, tumbling, bounding and boundary-less underbrush and shrubs, trees and foilage, and in their midst, the starkly straight and uniform lines of man-made shelter, the cabin. A juxtaposition, perfectly emoted in cassette tape.
Also included (hidden away in the lowest depths of the gallery): the work of Asia Ward, solar powered mutant stuffed animal sculptures!
Now, that's what I call AWESOME SAUCE!I would recommend two things to you, dear readers: visit these galleries, and stay healthy and far away from the ravages of this Bacon(Swine) Flu.
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